Zeppelin

Friedrichshafen is best known for having been home to the Zeppelin airship and Dornier aircraft companies. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was born in Konstanz (Constance), originally had his airships built in a floating assembly hall on the lake which could be aligned with the wind to support the difficult starting procedure.

Visitors can learn more about the history of Zeppelin airships in the large Zeppelin Museum sited near the lakeshore. In recent years a number of small Zeppelin airships have been constructed using modern technology (Zeppelin NT) and these can be booked for sightseeing tours.

Economy

Airship construction in the first third of the 20th century attracted considerable industry and contributed significantly to Friedrichshafen's relative prosperity, yet also exposed the town to massive air strikes by the Allied Forces in the later part of World War II which almost completely destroyed its historical centre.

Apart from industry and tourism, various regular commercial exhibitions, such as Aero (aviation technology), InterBoot (water sports) and EuroBike are important economical factors. Furthermore, the Graf-Zeppelin-Haus cultural centre has become a popular location for congresses, conferences, and other events.

Transport

The town enjoys regular-interval train services to Lindau and Ulm, as well as to Basel in Switzerland.

A car ferry service links Friedrichshafen to Romanshorn in Switzerland, and various other towns around the lake can also be reached by ferry.

The presence of an expanding local airport which affords, amongst other services, a daily international connection to London Stansted Airport operated by Ryanair is a factor which has recently contributed to new growth in the town.